Convertible furniture.



W. H. THOMMEN.

CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE. APPLICATION man DE02, 1914.

l l 44, 398 Patented June 29, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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1HE NOR'RIS PETERS Ca. PHOTO-I ITHO.. WASHING rON. DV C.

WILLIAM n. l'rrro1m/isla, or Pom? WASHINGTON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOB/ TOWISCONSIN CHAIR COMPANY, 0F PORT WASHINGTON, WISCONSIN.

CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE.

igieases.

T0 all cai/om it may concern Be it known that/I, VILLIAM H. THOM- nnN, acitizen of the United States, and resident of Port Washington, in thecounty of Ozaukee and State` of Wisconsin, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Convertible Furniture; andl do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention refers to convertible furniture especially designed with aview to maximum utility combined with compactness and convenience,whereby such articles are especially adaptable for general use inapartments or dwellings wherein floor space" is an element that must betaken into rconsideration in furnishing as well as comfort, convenienceand economy.

Withthe above object in view the invention is designed to provide asimple, economical and effective foldable buffet, cabinetor analogousarticle combined witha table, thel cabinet having a main body to whichat its upper" edge there is hingedly secured a table leaf of a foldablepair. An essential feature of the invention is also the provisionwherein the main cabinet is flankedby wing sections in hinge connectiontherewith, which wing sections are alined with the main cabinet when thedevice is used as a buffet and are folded back rearwardly to form acompact rectangular body or column for the support of the table leaveswhen said cabinet is converted into a center or dining table. Y

Another object of my invention is to provide a removable locker, trayor` cabinet compartment adapted to be fitted overV the flexible maincabinet and wings thereof, which capping tray or cabinet is providedwith a dowel connection in conjunction with the foldable cabinet wings,whereby these parts are locked in their distended position when thearticle of furniture is used as a buffet.

With the above and other minor objects in view the invention consists incertain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts as setforth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings andsubsequently claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l represents a perspective view of thecombination buffet or sideboard and table assembled to be uti-Speceation of Letters Patent.

Patented@ une 29, i915.

Applicationied December 2, 1914.. serial No. 875,172.

lized as a buffet; Fig. 2, a perspective view of the same converted intoa table; Fig. 3, a plan view of the cabinet elements with the cappingcabinet removed showing the table leaves and other hinge connectionsfolded back of the several cabinet compartments; Fig. 4, a sideelevation of the same; Fig. 5, an inverted plan view of the removablecapping tray or cabinet, and Fig. 6, a detailed cross-section throughthe front iush-joint connection between the main cabinet and one of thewing cabinets.

Referring by characters to the drawings, A represents a rectangular maincabinet provided with the usual doors and chamber subdivisions togetherwith an upper drawer, the latter being directly under its solid top 2.The main cabinet is provided with front and rear leg posts 3, 3',respectively, which posts form the corner pillars for the parallel sidessi and back 5 of the cabinet. The main cabinet is flanked by duplicatewing cabinets B, B, which cabinet wings are similar in all respects tothe main cabinet with the exception that they are one-half the size ofthe latter as to width. The front leg posts 3 of the maincabinet, asshown, are slightly extended beyond the side walls to form finishingvalances or channels for the reception of the inner front corner posts6, 6, -of the wing cabinets. rlhe auxiliary or wing cabinets are alsosupported by leg extensions-of the outer front corner posts G and therear corner posts 7. Thus each wing cabinet is provided with threesupporting legs. The inner rear posts 7 are secured to the rear cornerpost 3 ofthe main cabinet by hinges 8, 8, as best shown in Figs. 2 and3. rlhus the wing cabinet sections are hingedly connected to the rearcorners of the main cabinet and are also supported by the triple legs,which legs are adapted to describe arcs of a circle about the hingepoint, it being understood that all of the legs of the several cabinetsections are equipped with suitable casters.

As best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the rear upper edge of the main cabinettop 2 has secured thereto hinges 10, 10, which hinges carry a main tableleaf 1l, the same being arranged to swing outwardly and fold downwardlyas shown. The outer corner of the hinged edge of the main table leaf 1lis provided with countersunk hinge members 12, 12, which are secured tothe inner edges of a second or auxiliary table leaf member 11. The leafmember is arranged to swing in the same plane as the main table leafmember whereby it is folded down thereon when not in use and when thedevice is assembled as a table the auxiliary leaf is folded over andsupported by the top 2 of the main cabinet section A while the main leafsection is similarly supported by the wing cabinet members B, B', whichmembers are then swung back of the `main cabinet forming a combinedcolumn for supporting the table leaf before mentioned, it beingunderstood that the 4tops of the cabinet'sections are all upon a commonplane. In order to effect a flush joint between the table leaves whenthey are spread, the auxiliary table leaf 11, as shown in Fig. 3, isnotched as at 10 to form sockets, whereby the hinge member 10 may benested therein.

The tops 13 of the wing cabinet members B and B are provided with dowelreceiving apertures 13 along the rear and inner edges thereof for thereception of dowelpins 9, 9, which extend from the bottom edges of sidepanels lil of a removable capping tray or cabinet member' D, the saidcabinet member being provided with doors -for access to a compartmentwhich may be diveded in any suitable manner. The capping cabinet D hashingedlyconnected to its rear corners rail members 15, 15, which railmembers extend over the rear edges of the wing cabinet tops and are alsoprovided with dowel pins 9 forsoclreting in the rear series of dowelholes 13. Thus when the capping cabinet is fitted into position upon thetop 2 of the main cabinet A and its rail members are positioned as shownin Fig. 1, the dowel coupling means before mentioned will securely lockthe foldable wing cabinet sections in their proper distendedpositionnecessary to remove the capping tray D, fold the wing cabinet sectionsB, B, back of the main cabinet whereby a rectangular column is formed,it being apparent that before completing the fold mentioned the tableleaves are swung to their horizontal spaced position, as shown in Fig.2,whereby they are rigidly sustained and, as best shown in Fig. 3, whenthe buffet element is utilized, the table leaves are folded backconcealed from view and in such folded position they are compactly andconveniently stored. It should be understood also that I may, withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention, under certain conditions,dis-- pense with a solid top for the main cabinet section A and utilizethe bottom of the capping cabinet or tray D to close such opening whenthe article of furniture is used as a buffet, and when the same isassembled as a table the auxiliary leaf 11 will serve as a closure for`said top.

I claim:

A convertible article of-furniture comprising a main rectangularcabinet, wing cabinet sections in hinge connection with the rear cornersof said main cabinet and adapted to fold outwardly to form cabinetextensions or to fold backwardly to form a center table supportingcolumn, a capping tray member adapted to be fitted over the tops of thecabinet sections, means for locking the tray to the` wing sections ofsaid cabinet, and a pair of hingedly connected table leaves one of whichis in hinge connection with the rear upper corner of the main cabinetsection.

In testimony that I `claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand atPort Washington in the county of Ozaukee and State of Wisconsin in the.presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. rHoMMEN.

Witnesses IDA PROVINSKI, EMMA KRATZER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner `of Patents,

Washington, I). C.

